The King: Eternal Monarch (Korean: 더 킹：영원의 군주; Hanja: 더 킹：永遠의 君主; RR: Deo King: Yeongwonui gunju) is a 2020 science-fiction historical time-travel South Korean television series, starring Lee Min-ho, Kim Go-eun and Woo Do-hwan. Produced by Hwa&Dam Pictures and its parent company Studio Dragon, it premiered on SBS TV on April 17, 2020. It is aired on Netflix for global audiences.
Lee Gon (Lee Min-ho), King of the Kingdom of Corea, attempts to cross the barrier into a parallel universe where the Republic of Korea exists in the Kingdom's stead. He comes across detective Jung Tae-eul (Kim Go-eun), whom he seems to already recognise from the most tragic day in his childhood. Lee Gon's step-uncle, who assassinated the previous king (Lee Gon's dad), is in hiding and assembling armies while traversing back and forth the two parallel worlds.
Main Characters:
Lee Min-ho as Lee Gon
The present king of the Kingdom of Corea, whose father, the Emperor, was killed by his uncle. He was saved by an unknown person with Jung Tae-eul's warrant card.
Kim Go-eun as Jung Tae-eul / Luna
A police officer ranked Inspector (equivalent to Lieutenant in the Korean Armed Forces) in the National Police Agency of the Republic of Korea who meets Lee Gon when he crosses over to the parallel world.
Woo Do-hwan as Jo Eun-seob / Jo Young
Jo Young: A Captain of the Royal Guard of the Kingdom of Corea, and childhood friend of Lee Gon.
Jo Eun-seob: A member of the National Police Agency of the Republic of Korea, and the parallel universe version of Jo Young.
Kim Kyung-nam as Kang Shin-jae
A detective of the Republic of Korea who has a crush on Jung Tae-eul since their high school days.
Jung Eun-chae as Goo Seo-ryung
The youngest and first female prime minister of the Kingdom of Corea.
Lee Jung-jin as Lee Rim
Illegitimate brother and murderer of Lee Gon's father, who escaped to the parallel universe and killed both his and Lee Gon's counterparts there.
Supporting characters:
Kim Young-ok as Noh Ok-nam
Jeon Bae-soo as Jung Do-in
Seo Jeong-yeon as Song Jung-hye
Park Won-sang as Park Moon-sik
Kim Yong-ji as Myeong Na-ri / Myeong Seung-ah
Kang Hong-seok as Jang Michael / Jangmi
Jeon Moo-song as Lee Jong-in
Lee Hae-young as Yoo Kyung-moo
Hwang Young-hee as Min Hwa-yeon
Park Ji-yeon as Park Ji-young
National Police Agency, Republic of Korea Edit
Heo Dong-won as Detective Shim
Ahn Si-ha as Kim Hee-joo
Song Sang-eun as Kyung Ran
Imperial Household, Kingdom of Corea Edit
Baek Hyun-joo as Secretary Mo
Lee Hong-nae as Seok Ho-pil
Others:
Park So-jin as Jo Hae-in
Choi Woo-sung as Kim Ki-won
Kim Hyung-woo as Yoon heon-soo
Lee Ho-cheol as Dalgoo
Special appearances:
Jeon No-min as Captain Choe Gi-tae
Lee Kyung-young
Kwon Yul as Lee Ho, Lee Gon's father
The series reunited actress Kim Go-eun and writer Kim Eun-sook, who had collaborated 4 years ago on Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016), as well as actor Lee Min-ho with writer Kim Eun-sook, who had collaborated before on The Heirs (2013).
The first script reading took place on September 17, 2019. Filming for the drama began on October 23, 2019 and ended on February 2020.
Controversy
Following its premiere, an online controversy erupted as Korean viewers noticed that the architecture of the fictional world of the Corean Empire resembled that of Japanese temples, in particular, the Japanese temple complex Tōdai-ji and the temple of Kōfuku-ji. As the drama was aired during a time when Korean-Japanese relations were uneasy, the production team issued an apology and stated that buildings in question would be corrected.
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